Hey! I only play the games that I win at
Is betamethasone a betamethasone positive no matter what?
Why MF DOOM? Well, he’s the ultimate super villain, and he’s a smart MFer. These lines from his track “Hey!” are applicable to the super villain of the moment, Bob Baffert, who’s fighting the late Medina Spirit’s betamethasone positive from the Derby.
I only play the games that I win at
And stay the same with more rhymes than there's ways to skin cats
As a matter of fact, let me rephrase
With more rhymes and ways to fillet felines these days
Watch the path of the black one
Supervillain, he wrecks clubs for delf
Eight days ago, on the Friday before Medina Spirit dropped dead on Monday, Baffert’s attorneys released a statement that said the betamethasone in Medina Spirit came from an ointment and not an injection, according to a lab that analyzed the split sample.
For most people, this was a matter of semantics, even if true. A positive is a positive is a positive, right? Who cares how the betamethasone — a corticosteroid, as opposed to an anabolic steroid — got in the horse, right?
Last year, Baffert’s filly Gamine had tested positive for betamethasone after the G1 Kentucky Oaks and was DQ’d. Baffert had admitted that Gamine had received an intra-articular (IA) shot of betamethasone in a joint 18 days before the race, well ahead of KHRC’s advisory of a 14-day stand down. KHRC does not permit a betamethasone IA within 14 days of a race. However, KHRC’s advisory is just that, because horses metabolize substances at different rates and a trainer takes a chance a horse may or may not test positive for the substance if its administered at 15 days or 18 days or 20 days. That’s explicit in KHRC rules, and Baffert paid the price with Gamine.
In KHRC’s published rules “810 KAR 8:010. Medication; testing procedures; prohibited practices,” it states: “Section 24. Corticosteroids. (1) A corticosteroid shall not be administered intra-articularly within fourteen (14) days before post time for the race in which the horse is entered.”
In KHRC’s amendment “810 KAR 8:025. Drug, medication, and substance withdrawal guidelines,” betamethasone is specifically addressed: “(13)[k.] The following shall have a fourteen (14) day stand down period for intra-articular injection. Any IA corticosteroid injection within fourteen (14) days shall be a violation: (a)[(i)] Betamethasone, via IA administration at 9 mg total dose in a single articular space. Withdrawal time should be increased for use of betamethasone products with a ratio of greater than 1:1 betamethasone acetate to betamethasone sodium phosphate. Intramuscular administration is associated with substantially longer withdrawal times.”
If KHRC is painstakingly specific about the administration of betamethasone via IA or IM, it is not about the application of it topically through an ointment.
In 810 KAR 8:025, there is a section that covers ointments, but it has inconsistencies built into it. It states: “(b) The following substances may be administered or applied up to the scheduled paddock time of the race in which the horse is to compete: 1. Topical applications, such as liniments, leg paints, salves, and ointments, which may contain antibiotics or DMSO, but do not contain steroids, anesthetics, or any other prohibited substances.”
Note the part that says that the ointment “may contain antibiotics or DMSO, but do not contain steroids…”; it may be possible to argue that “steroids” here is vague and perhaps not specific to corticosteroids, which are a permitted therapeutic medication versus the prohibited anabolic steroids. Also, it may be possible to argue the case that betamethasone is specifically mentioned as being prohibited via IA or IM within 14 days but is not mentioned specifically in any other way.
This section is particularly vulnerable, because it’s got other holes in it.
For instance, this section states that an ointment that can be applied on race day “may contain antibiotics or DMSO,” but the lines underneath it strictly limit antibiotics to 24 hours and DMSO to 48 hours, creating inconsistencies within this advisory.
Here’s the part on antibiotics: “2. The following substances may be administered up to twenty-four (24) hours prior to the scheduled post time of the race in which the horse is to compete as long as their use follows subsection (3)[(2)] of this section: a. Antibiotics, except those containing prohibited drugs, such as Procaine.”
And here’s the entry on DMSO: “(5)[c.] The following substances have a forty-eight (48) hour withdrawal guidance prior to the scheduled post time of the race in which the horse is to compete as long as their use follows Section 1(3) [Section 1(2)] of this administrative regulation: (f)[(vi)] DMSO via IV, oral, or topical administration up to 60 ml.”
So, if antibiotics are only permitted at 24 hours and DMSO at 48, how can an ointment containing them be permitted to be used on race day? KHRC has its back door flapping open here.
Imagine this exchange at a KHRC hearing:
“Sir, it’s specific that an ointment may not contain steroids.”
“Sir, with all due respect, your advisory isn’t specific on ‘steroids,’ and your advisory also maintains specifically that antibiotics and DMSO are permitted in a race-day ointment, which is clearly against your own rules, which have more holes in them than Swiss cheese.”
There are some specific protocols in place for the Derby that are intended to crack down on medication violations. Any horse coming from out of state, for example, is subjected to out-of-competition testing from that jurisdiction under the auspices of the KHRC. Moreover, a Derby starter is required to be on premises at Churchill Downs the week of the Derby — this year, it was by Tuesday, April 27 — and is subjected to out-of-competition testing for about 1,500 illegal medications (non therapeutics).
These are some of the protocols CD has in place this year in its press release:
Horses participating in the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby shall be on the grounds no later than 11 a.m. ET on Monday, April 26 and Tuesday, April 27, respectively – more than 100 hours before each race – and shall remain on the grounds until after the running of the race, pending an unforeseeable emergency;
Kentucky Derby participants will have 24-hour barn security by Jefferson County Sheriffs starting at 11 a.m. ET on Tuesday, April 27 through 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 1;
Horses shall stay in their assigned barns and stalls on the grounds, which will be monitored at all times by Jefferson Country Sheriffs and additional security personnel;
Entry-exit logs will be maintained by security personnel starting at 11 a.m. ET on Tuesday, April 27 for all Kentucky Derby horses. All persons – including grooms, veterinarians, trainers, assistant trainers, farriers, owners or other connections – must have a valid KHRC license before permission is granted to enter a stall, engage in contact with the horse or perform any service for the horse. Such persons will be logged in by security personnel with the reason for their visit;
All equipment, feed, hay bales, etc., are subject to search and seizure, as provided by law, by both Churchill Downs Racetrack and the KHRC;
And for medication protocols, CD issued these guidelines:
The KHRC has conducted out-of-competition blood samples of horses competing in the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks, as well as undercard graded stakes, before entries are taken and will send them to Industrial Laboratories in Wheat Ridge, Colo. for immediate testing. Other jurisdictions, including Arkansas, California, Florida, Maryland and New York, obtained out of competition samples on behalf of the KHRC from horses that are not stabled in Kentucky;
Daily veterinarian’s record of all medications and treatments given to any horse on the grounds must be submitted to the KHRC Chief Veterinarian within 24 hours of administration;
All practicing veterinarians of Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks horses will be identified by KHRC no later than 11 a.m. on Sunday, April 25;
Security personnel will monitor all treatments performed by veterinarians. Materials used for medication administrations may be retained by the KHRC for possible testing;
Veterinarians will not be permitted in the stalls of Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks participants within 24 hours of the race unless accompanied by a KHRC investigator;
No medications are permitted within 24 hours of the race. In the event of a medical emergency, the Stewards will authorize treatment and the horse will be scratched; and
Five teams of KHRC veterinarians will collect blood samples for TCO2 (a.k.a. “milkshake”) and testing 30 minutes prior to the horses’ scheduled departure for the paddock.
Note the second entry above, about “all medications and treatments given to any horse on the grounds must be submitted to the KHRC Chief Veterinarian within 24 hours of administration.”
Did Baffert comply with this requirement for the administration of the ointment? And if he did, what did the KHRC chief vet have to say about it?
I’ve filed an “Open Records Request” with KHRC to get this information, to which I got this response the other day: “Your request has been assigned the above-referenced file number. The KHRC will provide its response, subject to any applicable exemptions, in accordance with the provisions of KRS 61.872(5). Please take note that pursuant to House Joint Resolution 1 (S.S. 2021), Senate Bill 150 was extended until January 15, 2022. Senate Bill 150 gives government agencies 10 days to respond to open records requests during the State of Emergency.”
Hey there boys and girls, please note that I’m not a lawyer, and as DOOM says in “Hey!”:
For the record this is some shit I just thought of y'all
Science fiction that's not admissible in no court of law
But what you can glean from all of this is Baffert’s thought process for establishing the source of the betamethasone. He is aiming his sights at a KHRC hearing, and the KHRC has this provision written into 810 KAR 8:025: “(b)[(c)] A licensee may present evidence of full compliance with these guidelines to the commission and the stewards as a mitigating factor to be used in determining violations and penalties.”
Important words for Baffert here are “mitigating factors.”
Whether he succeeds or not, we’ll see.
In the meantime, you can listen to “Hey!” below. It was first released on a 12-inch in 1997 and later was included in the 1999 album “Operation: Doomsday,” which was DOOM’s first album back as a super villain.
Sid knocking. It out if the park again